Battle of Mortis
by My Wunderwaffle iz missin
Summary: The human colonies of Commerce and Mortis come under attack by a Covenant fleet. After devastating Commerce, Spartan November Team goes back to the planet to rescue a stranded admiral. But when more reinforcements arrive, the task gets a lot harder. AU. On hold for more detailed plot.
1. Unprepared

**Disclaimer: I do not own Halo. I do own Pycuree and all the fan-made content in this story**

**Covenant Assault Carrier **_**Wise Achievement**_

**Covenant Fleet of Favorable Intervention is currently entering the Mortis System**

**March 2, 2550**

The small sangheili minor sprinted through the halls of the carrier _Wise Achievement. _Both unggoy and sangheili stood aside from the quickened elite. It paused looking at a clock, sensing that it was late, it sped up faster. The doors parted to reveal the luminous bridge. It crossed stations where generals and spec ops elites were working. The glittering stars in the viewpoints danced as the ship moved towards them. The minor approached a throne sitting at the command center of the bridge. The figure didn't move a muscle when the lesser ranked elite stood in front.

"You're late. Messenger." The sinister voice came from the figure on the throne.

"Forgive me Shipmaster. The communications just got a message and informed me just when I was about to leave."

The dark figure clicked his mandibles, "This had better be good."

"Shipmaster Ckta Pycuree is requested to head to his private quarters to receive an important message from the High Council."

Pycuree stood to his full height, taking in the intimidation in the younger elite's eyes.

"You are dismissed." The minor ran off, nervous in a direct conversation with the commander. Pycuree motioned to one of the generals on the bridge. "Watch while I'm gone."

Without waiting for a response, he walked out of the bridge toward the communications post. After the doors parted, he came to a projector which came online. Pycuree groaned, another heretic mission.

He was wrong.

Sitting in a holographic projector were two elaborately dressed san shyumn as well as several sangheili councilors. They all halted their talk and turned to face Pycuree.

"Noble Prophets." Pycuree knelt to the hologram.

"Ship Master Pycuree." The oldest of the prophets gestured to the council. "The council and I have decided that you will be entitled to join our fellow commanders in the crusade against the humans. You will no longer be taking heretics. We have a new commander to do that."

"What will you have me do?" Pycuree asked, anticipation surfacing in his voice. He was already quite eager to hunt the waning enemy known as humans.

The Prophet of Regret hovered forward. "We recently found a god's secret message that pointed to two human held worlds. Scouting found out that these worlds are named Commerce and Mortis by the human tongue. You shall head to Commerce first, slaughter every obstacle and find what we are looking for."

"What are we looking for? What about this, Mortis?" Pycuree asked.

"An artifact of the gods." Mercy replied, "This crystal shall point us towards our next step in salvation. If nothing shows up at Commerce, move to Mortis and do the exact same thing."

Pycuree looked at his chance and mission to possibly becoming a Shipmaster of glory and rewards when the journey arrived. His fleet was too small, consisting of too few ships. If he hoped to take on a colony like Mortis that by scouting parties, was heavily fortified his forces would have to be much greater.

"My fleet has only five other ships. Two cruisers and three destroyers."

One of the councilors, Haormee stepped up. "We have another fleet assembled for you. Consisting with it are some of our new Bestowed-class frigates. They'll meet you at your current location."

"May the gods be with you." Mercy bowed and the image of the council winked off the conference table.

Pycuree smiled, the Bestowed-class frigates were the newest frigate designed to replace the aging CAW-class. It featured powerful pulse lasers as well as torpedo launchers. Basically lightly armored and built for heavy combat. Three to four Bestowed could overwhelm a CCS cruiser with concentrated firepower. Pycuree had served on one of the first frigates as an ops officer. The _Promised Sacrament. _With the frigates on his side, he was relieved to have an ensured victory.

Pycuree returned to his quarters and awaited the remainder of the fleet to arrive.

**Mortis System **

**Planet Commerce**

**UNSC Recon Drone Hotel 48**

**March 4, 2550**

The drone silently sped through space away from Commerce towards the outskirts of the Mortis system. It angled as its operator, on the planet of Commerce, steered it towards the star that warmed Commerce and its sister planet Mortis. The operator at his station was munching on a sandwich as he steered the drone. Not much was going on, although recon was quite boring.

He was busy licking mustard from his fingers when he heard a small ping on the drone's radar. It remained there for a second and then disappeared.

He replayed the screen, seeing nothing in the direction of the signature. The operator stood, returning to his station with the recon captain only to find his screen buzzing with static. Clearly puzzled, the captain sat down.

"It has to be an accident."

"I don't think so." The operator concurred. "It may have been an asteroid or a ship."

The captain turned in his seat. "We had no patrols there. Even ONI classifications deny it. It's nothing. I promise."

The operator sat down, finishing his food. Something told him that it was no accident.

_**Wise Achievement**_

"We are approaching the planet of Commerce." The gold armored general at the ops station announced.

Pycuree clicked his mandibles, "Enemy ships detected?"

The general, H'tel Arelmee turned back to his station. "Yes sir. 8 enemy ships closing."

"Arm primary torpedoes. I want them taken out before they get a chance to respond."

Weapons officer Senicee complied, flattening his hands over several glyphs. "Torpedoes armed and ready to fire."

"You may fire when ready."

The massive Assault Carrier fired a volley of torpedoes. Burning through space, the human ships scattered. However, it did little to avoid the inevitable impact. Armor and flames danced from the hulls as half the fleet listed.

Pycuree's fleet moved in, easily overwhelming the survivors with the new Bestowed-class frigates.

The 900 meter long ships had a thinner look, opposed to the bulbous corvettes and cruisers. Six engines glowed bright blue at the stern and were covered by a walkway surrounded by armor. Even the engines proved a flaw, a well-timed shot could easily cripple them. Two delta like wings were in the center, separating the two major sections of armor. The bridge sat at the bow, visible enough to see the battlefield, but hidden enough to not present a prominent target. These powerful frigates had torpedo launchers and bristled with plasma turrets. Easily, its firepower rivaled their fleet of destroyers and even the light cruisers.

"Move to the planet." Pycuree ordered the frigates. "Clear the air defenses and get the legions prepared for an invasion. I will join you shortly to lead the attack."

**Planet Commerce**

**UNSC Navy Headquarters at New Overland**

Admiral Patrick Van Kylem had just returned from inspection of the Commerce Defense Fleet's flagship, the _UNSC Windsor _and was heading to his office when the sirens shocked him out of his casual mood.

The Covenant was at Commerce.

Doors opened everywhere as wide-eyed civilians peered out of doors, windows and cars. Two Covenant ships that Van Kylem had never seen before passed overhead, resonating their famous ominous rumbling. Screams were heard as the civilians panicked, picking up as many possessions as possible, grabbing their chatter devices to call their relatives and suddenly the roadways were choked with traffic. Van Kylem sprinted to his office, hailing the _Windsor_. No reply. The remains of the _Windsor _and her fleet lay in pieces orbiting the planet. He stared at the spaceport and the transports already loading civilians. Hopefully it wasn't too late.

The Phantom eased down with a Banshee escort. Pycuree gripped his Energy Sword tighter; it would only be a few more moments. Bright light flooded the cabin as the fleet master and his fellow zealots jumped out of the dropship followed by squads of special ops unggoy.

Pycuree and his team were met by a human armored unit. The four wheeled vehicle fired a powerful cannon at the fleet master who narrowly evaded the blast. The explosion detonated in a fireball. As if the situation was updated, one of his zealots was already on the communications. Seconds later, glowing red volleys impacted the human vehicle, destroying it.

"Human armor destroyed. Let us clear out the bulk and the legions crush whatever stands." The convoy of Wraiths and Revenants slid down the streets, knocking and destroying all humans that attempted to put up a futile defense against another Covenant onslaught. Pycuree saw the numbers of humans firing back. They were putting up a good fight, yet they still continued to fall. The fleet master smiled, raising his Energy Sword in a charging battle cry on top of a destroyed human tank. His legions answered his roar and moved to overwhelm the opposition.

Van Lylem frantically typed on his computer, hoping to send a distress signal to Mortis. The Chatter lines were cut off and the only hope was a file transfer if he was to be rescued and save what was left of Commerce and Mortis. He had just pressed the send button when a marine stormed in. His battle gear was already splattered in three different types of blood and sweat drenched his clothes. Van Kylem raised a curious eyebrow at his sudden appearance.

"Sir! What are you doing here?" The Corporal practically yelled in his face.

"I'm sending a distress call to Mortis." Van Kylem replied, opening a drawer under his desk and pulling out a M6C magnum, a clip was inserted and the admiral was good to go.

"We need to go! Fronts 14 and 21 have been completely overrun! The ships have begun to take off, but those new Covie vessels pluck them out of the sky."

"Hopefully my ship wasn't damaged." Van Kylem muttered under his breath. "This has gone to hell already."

The Corporal met with a marine platoon who fought through the city of New Overland. In the end, only a few men were lost and the Admiral's ship was within visual range.

"Damn." One marine exclaimed. "Never thought a simple ship looked so beautiful."

Van Kylem started for the ship when he heard a plasma blast. One of the new Covenant ships had fired a laser that arced for his ship. It connected and melted the hull, throwing flaming debris over the other ships parked nearby, which the Covenant warship did not hesitate to destroy seconds later.

A Private with a radio twisted a knob. "Thank God the radio still works. I think the guys at Mortis can hear us."

Van Kylem took the radio from the man's hands. "Hello? Anybody there?"

A voice came on, calmly speaking. "UNSC _Black Wind_ here. What's happening at Commerce?"

Van Kylem took a deep breath. "Covenant blew open our fleet and already took New Overland and the surrounding cities! We need rescue!"

"The fleet at Mortis has strict orders to cover the planet. It's way to valuable to lose any of its fleet. We will pull in any evac transports, but Command does not want any vessels venturing to a planet that's buzzing with powerful Covenant ships."

"I think we just signed our own death warrant." The Marine Major muttered under his breath. "Plus a death cyclone is approaching."

Death Cyclones also known as Mortis Storms were powerful weather storms that occurred on Commerce often. They were quite dangerous and even more lethal on Mortis. Fortunately, most dangerous ones occurred out at sea. With the increase in temperature from the lancing beams from the Covenant frigates, it served to intensify the maelstrom. Evac would then become that much harder.

"I do not care of you are a simple lieutenant. This is Admiral Patrick Van Kylem. A group of marines, civilians and I need extraction. Whatever the cost."

The person on the other line paused, never given such strict orders. "Help is on the way."

**It is not too late to sign up for this fanfic. If you read my previous fanfic, I posted a submission form on there allowing other users to submit a fan-made character. I would then take the character and implement him/her into this fanfic as a member of an upcoming Spartan team or a member of the Covenant invasion force. If you want to submit a character you need to put this information in the reviews.**

**If you are going to submit a Spartan, I only need 3, maybe 4 Spartan entries.**

**Name: (It doesn't have to be your real name nor can it be the same name of an already existing Spartan. No John, Kelly, Fred, Carter, Emile etc.)**

**Rank: (Be serious. I don't think a Spartan would have the rank of general. If you put something like Warrant Officer grade 2, then I'm going to assume it's standard Warrant Officer)**

**Armor: (All permutations plus colors)**

**Birthdate and Home Planet: (All the Spartans are Alpha Company, so their birthdate would have to be around 2521-2523. For home planets, you may make up your own fan made world. You may also use planets that already exist in Halo, Reach, Harvest, Earth etc. Even my fan made worlds, Commerce and Mortis may be used)**

**Specialty: (I already have a CQC specialist and a Scout. DO NOT submit another one who specializes in those areas. I will reject them instantly)**

**Bio: (Give a short biography about the Spartan's past)**

**If you are submitting a Covenant character**

**I will only accept Sangheili and possibly other species depending on how good it is. If you are submitting a Covenant individual that is not Sangheili, please let me know.**

**Name: (Make sure the name is like others of their species. For example, Thel Vadam is a Sangheili name)**

**Rank: (Follow the Covenant ranking system. If you don't know much about their ranks, go to Halopedia, where you can search up the species of your character and can look through the ranks on the page)**

**Weapon: (You may carry any Covenant made weapon as your primary and then have either the Plasma Rifle, Plasma Pistol or Needler as a sidearm)**

**Bio: (A short biography about your Covenant members past)**

**It is fairly simple, FCFS. There is only one character allowed in a submission and only one submission per user. Unless there is a lack of submissions, please do not submit additional characters. I will let you know when you can submit again, if I get to that point. There is a deadline for signups. I will stop accepting forms when the next chapter is released, which if on schedule, is estimated to be released on February 19, 2011. I'm looking forward to a great fanfiction and the more impressive of a character, the better the role. Happy submitting! **


	2. Blockade

**I planned this to be released yesterday, but far be it from me to stop an invitation by a friend to go shoot Remington 870s. XD. For those who were anxious, sorry about the delay.**

**UNSC **_**Scimitar**_

**Planet Mortis**

**March 4, 2550**

The crowd gathered in awe inside the _Scimitar's _gym. Marines, Navy and ODSTs alike watched, maws agape. Sitting at the bench press was a man estimated to be a couple inches short of seven feet tall. Dark brown hair covered his scalp and sweat beaded on his forehead. It swept into his dark green eyes and he paused, blinking them away. The man continued another thirty reps and set the press down. He was hardly tired and could have gone another hundred. But his hunger overpowered his strength and he got up, pushing past the gathered crowd with an amused smile beginning to creep on his face.

Justin A-283 never liked crowds around him. He was careful not to instigate anything, from past experiences, even groping to get someone's attention could start a fistfight. While not exactly cold in nature, he was not much of a social person. Normal people couldn't start a conversation with him.

The mess hall doors opened and Justin covered the distance from the entrance to the lineup in ten swift strides. Grabbing a tray full of food, he sat down in silence eating his breakfast rather quickly. Not that he had any rush, but everybody stared at him awkwardly. Once he had eaten, he eavesdropped on a conversation about him being a really large ODST. Luckily for him, his enhanced hearing could hear a pin being dropped on the other side of the noisy room.

Putting away his tray he walked back to the barracks where the rest of his Spartans resided. He was the leader of an all Alpha Company team called November. Although not notable like other Alpha Company members such as Carter, Emile and Jun, November was formed to become a counterinsurgency team. When the escalating threat of the Covenant arose in the 2540s, November was reassigned to battling Covenant.

November's barracks parted as Justin stepped inside. He relaxed in the cool air, taking his time to stretch his sore arms.

"Draw another crowd this morning?" A feminine voice asked from an adjacent room.

Justin laughed in response. "It never fails. You should go to the gym Vanessa, I'm sure you'll turn even more heads than me."

Vanessa A-216 was one of the smaller Alpha company members. Her shoulder length brown hair waved in the slightest breeze and her face, like all members of November team, was attractive in a way. However, unlike Justin and his attitude, Vanessa was very quiet; speaking when needed and rarely opened up to anyone. When it came to combat, she always knew a possible solution and showed little mercy towards Covenant. If her specialty wasn't sniping, Justin would have appointed her as November's leader. Her favorite targets were the grunts. When she took her first shot, her favorite part was when they scattered and sometimes lined up so her next shots would take up to four of them down at once.

"Hey boss, how'd your shift go?" Another Spartan stepped from the door. Unlike Vanessa and Justin, Ryan A-262 specialized in close combat. While Justin had defined muscles, Ryan had large bulky ones. In contrast to Vanessa taking her kills from afar, Ryan never minded getting his hands splattered in alien blood, which was what he did. In his hands were a pair of combat knives, one of his hobbies was flipping them in his hands. Every member of November had gotten themselves cut at least once from Ryan's odd pastime. His lighter brown hair and black eyes were quite charming and he used it often against the females. He had mixed success there.

"Where's Dawn and Andrew?" Justin asked. He didn't have to worry about Elena, she was likely cleaning her weapon.

"Still sleeping." Vanessa answered, moving past him to retrieve her sniper rifle.

"If they're not out here in five minutes, we're gonna be in deep shit." Ryan noted.

"Then I'll get on their asses personally." November One replied, moving to the lockers and powering on his MJOLNIR armor.

Justin in his suit knocked on Andrew's door.

"What do you want?" A deep voice came from the other side.

"Get up." Justin set his commanding voice and presence. He did the same to Dawn and she bounded out in an instant. The ordinance Spartan A-222 was much more feminine than Vanessa with a more slender body.

Andrew A-249 opened his door filling the room with his presence. All about close combat, he was often cracking jokes, even in the midst of combat. He mainly kept the spirits of the team high.

"Will Spartan A-283 please report to the bridge?" Captain Michaelson ordered on the intercom.

"No rest for the weary." Justin grumbled as he got off his cot and left the room. He walked past personnel which took time to gape at the seven foot giant in MJOLNIR armor. His helmet, the MJOLNIR Security variant had a CBRN/CNM attachment, on his left shoulder was a Security pad and on his right shoulder was a Mark V. His wrist had a glowing blue TACPAD, FJ/PARA guards rested on his knees and on his chest was an Assault/Commando harness.

The bridge was only a short stroll away and normally it would have taken a person five minutes to get from their bunks there, Justin got to the command center in less than two.

"Reporting as ordered Captain." Justin snapped a form salute, ignoring the look of awe from the junior officers.

Michaelson had a hardened look to him. A large scar ran from his forehead to his neck on his left side of his face. His haunted brown eyes only told of three barely surviving Covenant battles, all losses.

"Colonel, you do know that Commerce is under attack?" Michaelson inquired.

Justin had heard the first reports of a large Covenant fleet approaching Commerce. It started when a drone operator had failed to recognize the fleet. If he had contacted help, the UNSC might have been prepared and saved countless lives. Also reports of a new Covenant vessel were sighted. The light warships built for heavy combat had ripped apart the UNSC frigates easily.

Michaelson tapped a holotank bringing up a display of Commerce. "The city of New Overland was home to Admiral Van Kylem. November, you're the best qualified for the job to get him out."

"You can't send a fleet?"

"Yes." Michaelson answered, "I'll dispatch three cruisers to provide a counter invasion force. Your main priority is to get Van Kylem out. You're taking command of the _Scimitar." _

"I can't do that!" The Spartan protested, "I'm supposed to fight on the ground! Not be a ship commander."

"It's either that, or letting the doorway to the Inner Colonies belong to the Covenant. Captain Lee Ford will also be there."

The Spartan's mind raced about the thoughts. No ship experience against veteran Covenant captains who always easily won against the UNSC. "Let's depart."

**Mortis System**

**Planet Commerce**

**2 hours later**

The _Scimitar _exited slipspace and rapidly approached Commerce two other cruisers following close behind, the glowing blue and green planet now starting to blacken at the northern hemisphere and large circular patches of glowing fire dominated the green lush wildlife.

The Covenant was already starting to destroy the planet. The commanding naval officer, Captain Lee Ford leaned on the bridge railing observing the large Covenant blockade.

"I estimate 21 Covenant vessels." The ops officer reported.

"Prepare to launch single ship fighters and arm heavy guns."

**Wise Achievement**

Pycuree was meditating in his chambers when his door was buzzed.

"I was not to be disturbed." He threatened, not bothering to open his eyes.

"It's urgent." The sangheili minor said from the other side. "Human ships have arrived."

Pycuree's eyes slowly opened and he slid the door halfway. The minor handed him a pad with the readings on the names and classes of the human ships. Pycuree muttered something to himself as he returned to the bridge.

Arelmee was at the station, analyzing the ships when Pycuree approached.

"Move us into open space. Leave the blockade to engage the humans."

Arelmee looked surprised at the order, but didn't dare disobey his commander. "Understood. Are we not going into battle?"

"No. I have an idea coming into play and it must be executed perfectly if we are to win here."

_Wise Achievement _slithered into the darkness of space, regrouping with the 20 other vessels hidden from the blockade and the human offense fleet. Pycuree sat in his chair and contacted Daal, commander of the blockade.

"Fleet Master." Daal bowed, deep voice rumbling. "What will you have me do?"

**UNSC **_**Scimitar**_

Ford and Justin watched as the Sabre fighters accelerated towards the enemy blockade. Only one destroyer was in the center of the fleet. The other two ships were corvettes and were right next to their flagship. Even though they looked only to be fist sized, both knew that that size from distance only fooled those who underestimated them.

"Easy blockade to penetrate if you ask me." Justin remarked. "We should be able to cripple the destroyer and the corvettes should be easy kills."

Ford rubbed his head, never had he seen a blockade so lightly defended. The fleet guarding Mortis could easily overwhelm this one. What had he gotten himself into by being pulled off his ship?

"Enemy shields drained to 42%! Reloading MAC!" Already the weapons officer was excited about the action. So far, the blockade was retreating.

"Excellent!" Ford exclaimed. "Bring us about so we can deliver a knockout punch to the bastard!"

**Covenant Destroyer Ferocious**

"We have enemy ships closing! They have a clear shot at us!" Daal's ops officer reported. The second in command of the Fleet of Favorable Intervention smiled.

"Spring the trap." He ordered.

The officer's red armor glowed as he excitedly contacted the reinforcements. "_Resolve _and _Interrupted Sermon, _immediate positions!"

Slipspace ruptures were seen as two more sleek corvettes joined the three ships in their battle.

"Now we bring ourselves online!" Daal roared. "Launch all available seraphs and banshee fighters! Arm tracking torpedoes and fire on the closest human cruiser!"

Daal's destroyer's turrets lighted up as they launched three torpedoes towards the incoming vessels. The purple streaks accelerated, impacting the hull and boiling away sections of armor. An explosion rippled through the hull, yet the cruiser remained intact.

"All ships! Open fire!" Daal ordered.

**UNSC **_**Scimitar**_

The corvette's pulse lasers crisscrossed the space and began damaging the _Scimitar_ as well as its sister ships. Justin looked worriedly at Ford, who was clinging on the railing as the vessel shuddered from a laser impact.

"With all due respect, I suggest we retreat behind the Commerce's moon!"

Ford nodded in understanding. "Alright, let's regroup and come up with a plan."

The _Scimitar_ was the first to turn away and began moving behind the moon. As it pulled behind the dark side of the moon, the remainder of the UNSC fleet followed the flagship. The front cruiser that was barraged with plasma fire listed in space before disintegrating into fiery pieces.

**Ferocious**

"They are leaving!" The navigation officer said with maw agape. Daal too, could only look in curiosity as two of the human ships moved behind the barren moon of Commerce. Fortunately for the Covenant, the cruiser bombarded with torpedoes drifted out of control and split apart in space.

"Should we go after them?" His first officer asked.

Daal shook his head, such inquisitive questions. "No. We have orders from the Fleet Master to blockade. Not to search and destroy." He scratched his arm and turned to his soldiers. "Reload the torpedoes. If my commander's views on humans are correct," His mandibles parted in a sinister smile. "They will soon return. When they do, we shall be ready."

**Finally my ulna cast was taken off yesterday and I went shooting R870s! As you may know, submissions are off for humans. If someone is willing to submit a Sangheili character, they can still do. I assumed that more Sangheili characters were going to be submitted, but I only need one or two. I am NOT accepting anymore human submissions, so don't put on in the reviews. It's a waste of your time and I will not put them in the story, no matter how much effort is put in.**

**My apologies for being so harsh on submissions, I'm just trying to say that it's over. There is no need to submit anything anymore. Anyway, how will Ford and Justin find a way to pass the Covenant blockade? And what does Pycuree's plan have to do avoiding combat? Stay tuned for Chapter 3 which is expected to be released February 24, 2010!**


	3. Storm Chasers

**Hey guys and chicks, Wunderwaffle's away right now and is not able to release this chapter in time. Something about his engineering class, I think he's taking a field trip. **

**I'm co-author My Winter's Howl iz missin. We keep the trend of a missing Wonder Weapon from COD. A mistake he put on the previous chapter is February 24, 2010! It's 2011 for god's sake! I have to question Wunderwaffle's intelligence sometimes!**

**Without further ado, here's chapter 3!**

**UNSC **_**Scimitar**_

**Behind Commerce's moon**

**March 4, 2550**

Captain Ford stared out of the window. There were small dots lining the area of New Overland indicating the Covenant blockade's location. What remained of the UNSC's task force fleet remained behind the lone barren moon. The shadow of the moon dimmed the bridge as the already exhausted captain leaned on the holotank table, trying to find a way around the nearly impenetrable blockade. It wasn't that the ships were powerful, the largest threat might have been the destroyer, it was their position and numbers. Even two heavy cruisers were no match for seven light warships.

Command at Mortis was in contact with Ford and Justin. Admiral Roland Freemont and Commander Jacob Keyes' voices came through the link.

"They caught us by surprise." Ford gestured to the holotank. "We were forced to retreat."

"What were your losses?" Freemont asked. Ford shook his head in response.

"We lost a cruiser. The _Chicago_. What remains of the fleet is hiding behind Commerce's moon."

"What a predicament." Keyes noted, he put a finger on his chin, deep in thought.

"You've lost nearly half your forces." Freemont ordered, "You need to break the blockade before Van Kylem and his Marines are overrun. Even though they haven't been found, it is only a matter of time before they are picked off. Get to work."

"Will we be expecting reinforcements?" Justin asked.

Keyes shook his head, "I'm afraid that besides the fleet at Mortis being not ordered to move, I'm the closest and it'll take me at least 10 hours to get there."

"We don't have that much time." Ford concluded.

**Ferocious**

Daal was anxious, he never rested during a battle. Sleep tugged at his eyes and he always had a drink as a stimulant to keep his eyes open.

"I don't know why the human ships have not launched another attack." His navigation officer pondered.

"They're obviously here for something. What is the status of our crusade?"

"Resistance is crumbling." The stationed sangheili replied, bowing his head. "Our leader estimates that it will be in our hands within the next planetary rotation."

"Do we have enough data on the scanned human ships?" Daal asked his first officer. The scarlet armored officer cocked his head in confusion, but tapped the data console. He transferred a file to Daal's seat and the zealot pulled it up.

The pad showed a photo of the ships that were taken during the engagement. Daal loathed to even see them, the crude design made his skin crawl. Then again, the only good human ship was a dead one.

"The one called shi-cah-goh was destroyed. The other two, smi-ter and de-ga-ma are still out there?"

"Yes my commander."

Daal read the personnel commanding the ship. His eyes lit up and his hands clenched into fists.

"Officer!"

"Yes shipmaster?"

"Prepare all the cannons and set the shields to full power!"

The bridge crew exchanged confused glances, but did as they were told. "Sir?" His navigation officer asked. "We under attack?"

"No." Daal replied. "I do not simply wish to be caught off guard. If I'm correct, the engines will be exhausted in seven hours. If the reputation of this particular human fleet is correct," His mandibles flexed in anticipation. "They'll be back."

**UNSC **_**Scimitar**_

**3 hours after the failed attack**

"Our intelligence indicates that this elite commander has no fear, no conscience and no weakness." Freemont said to Justin. "From what we've been able to gather, the elite commander is called Ckta Pycuree. The high command wants his head on a platter. This elite has not been seen fighting humans, although his death or capture can prove useful."

"I understand admiral." Freemont proceeded to disconnect.

The Spartan stood to observe the blockade, barely visible along the side of the moon, it still sat there, anticipating their return. Of course, charging in would never work. Staying put also put the mission in jeopardy, they came to extract personnel and the Covenant knew it. In fact, they were really hoping that they would stay behind the moon forever so that all resistance would be annihilated.

"There's a Death Storm passing near New Overland." He murmured under his breath. Similar to Earth hurricanes, Death Storms were much more lethal if they neared land. Since New Overland was a coastal city, it had built buildings that resisted its intense winds and heavy rainfall. Flying was nearly impossible, the eye of the storm appeared calm, but sucked anything airborne into the vortex. Several UNSC ships were claimed by the most intense storms, notably, the UNSC _Delhi_.

Escape pods from the cruisers were capable of escaping the pull, provided that they hadn't quite entered the atmosphere yet.

Justin sprinted to the cafeteria where Elena A-130 was eating. An idea was beginning to form in his head.

"Hey there Colonel." Elena had her Mark V B helmet off and was halfway done with a sandwich.

"Hey yourself." Justin allowed a small smile to escape his lips. He sat next to her and retrieved a sandwich. When he took a bite, he nearly gagged; his worst favorite was the one he picked, although he didn't care. Food was food.

He finished and Elena joined him back at the command table. Ford was half asleep in his command chair, a cup of coffee beside it, partially filled.

"I don't know if the captain will approve this, but I know you will." Justin told her.

His second in command nodded. "You got it. What's your plan?"

"Okay. You know of that death storm that's striking New Overland?"

Elena nodded in response. "Yeah. What I was thinking was that I pilot the _Scimitar_ into the storm. The Covenant are quite close to the storm's eye, so a little push would set them on a one way trip into the raging storm. Even their full shields can't take on its merciless power."

Elena was more curious than surprised. "Won't you die?"

"Two things. No, I'll jettison right before it's too late and then you'd have to take responsibility. After all." He chucked, "I wouldn't want your pretty face to get scarred up anymore."

"You think the Covenant leader would want you?"

"Trust me." Elena swore Justin was smirking evilly behind his Security helmet. "He'll do anything to have a sword halfway up my ass."

"What about the remaining corvettes?"

"We'd have to take them from long range. The rest of the blockade would be in chaos without their flagship."

"That's only temporarily." Elena shot back.

"You trying to ruin my plan? How about you wake the Captain for once!"

**Ferocious**

**6 hours after the successful defense**

"A human ship is emerging from behind the moon."

Those eight words had Daal already snapped into action. "I knew he would be back. What is its status?"

"It is accelerating towards the planet. Major population center where our forces are thickest."

Daal gulped, it was going to take out the main force, that might stop the primary objective.

"Put us on a collision course! We need to stop that ship!"

Ferocious rumbled as it moved past the stationed corvettes and accelerated after the _Scimitar_.

**UNSC **_**Scimitar**_

Justin aimed the MAC cannon at the farthest corvette. He fired and watched with satisfaction as the round severed the ship in half.

So far it was working; the destroyer was following them at full speed. The spiral storm was growing larger every second as the doomed cruiser sped towards the center. Justin had everyone except himself and two officers manning weapons and navigation. He still didn't believe Ford approved. He'd be one less ship but the blockade might be disbanded.

"Moving towards the storm, we'd better get out of here." The navigation officer tapped a few buttons and getting up from his seat.

Justin nodded and the three humans sprinted to the nearest escape pod.

As the bumblebee pod accelerated away, the crewless cruiser was sucked into the eye and disappeared from sight. If there was such a thing as dumb covenant, it was the destroyer and three of the five corvettes that followed the trick into the inescapable storm. Purple flashes were seen as the alien ships were ruthlessly ripped apart in the vortex. Justin and the officers had smiles on their faces as explosions rocked the pod from half the blockade's destruction.

The remaining cruiser, UNSC _De Gama, _rounded the moon with its MAC already charged. One shot already sent one of the corvettes into pieces and the last blockade ship as trapped as thousands of archer missiles and cannon fire ripped the hull apart.

"Good job Spartan!" Ford exclaimed. "I'm sending a shuttle to get you guys. Since the atmosphere is probably swarming with Covenant vessels, we're only going to send in your team. Prepare for extraction."

Justin relaxed on the wall of the pod as the shadow of the Pelican blocked out the sun. A shudder assured the three that they were en route.

"How would we get in the atmosphere without getting spotted?" Vanessa asked as Justin climbed out of the pod.

"Do you think I know? I just got here!"

"Well welcome to the _De Gama_." Ford said as Justin rose to full height, well over his own. "We'd have to wait for the death storm to pass to give a good point of entry."

Ryan looked at the spiral on the side of Commerce, "Or we could use it to mask our approach."

"Those pods are for ODSTs!"

Dawn nodded, "He does have a point, Captain. If we were to go in a Pelican, there's a chance their new Covenant ships could shoot us down. With the pods, we could go in faster and likely undetected."

Ford considered the possibility; both had chances of being spotted, a Pelican descending and the bright trails of the pods. But since they were going in and out, the pods seemed like the better idea.

Ford finally understood. "Alright. Get in the pods, we drop in five. Colonel, I leave the tactics up to you."

"Fair enough, we'll get it done."

**5 minutes later**

Justin addressed his team, "Alright, I'm splitting us in two. Vanessa and I will scout for this covenant leader while Elena leads everyone else to find a good entry point in the city. The Covenant is going to have it tightly sealed so we may need a diversion for an opening. Load up everyone, I want enough firepower, but we'll have to be lightweight if we ever run into trouble." He dismissed his Spartans and walked into the _De Gama's _armory.

Vanessa already had her sniper rifle on her lap and was adjusting her scope. Justin walked up to her, "Take as much ammo as possible. If we're going to take out this Pycuree, we'll have a huge crowd on our hands." She acknowledged his order and pocketed ammunition clips on her shoulders and armor without a word.

Justin took a BR55 HB Battle Rifle and a MA37 automatic. With a magnetic hook on his back, he could easily carry two rifles. Strapping ammo to his arms, chest and legs, he also grabbed four grenades. Also laying in the armory was a lotus antitank mine which Andrew took and a case full of armor abilities. Unfortunately there was only Sprint. Once more, the Spartans cursed the long times between resupply.

"We drop in five." Ford reported.

**Breaking the blockade was the easy part. Now the even more difficult task looms. Getting the admiral and his fellow refugees off the planet, but it isn't going to be easy. Pycuree has one of his best to guard the planet and whose strength, skill and intelligence are even greater than November's!**

**Chapter 4's release is expected to be February 26, 2011**


	4. I'cal rising

**Hey everyone! My Winter's Howl iz missin still here! Wunderwaffle will return by next chapter!**

**Commerce**

**Outside New Overland**

**March 4, 2550**

The orange glow of the night sky dominated the tops of the buildings in New Overland. Covenant frigates hovered between the buildings with a purple beam extending to the ground from the bellies of the ships.

Justin and Vanessa had dropped first and landed on the northern side of the city. Elena, Dawn, Ryan and Andrew were dropping to the southeast side a few minutes later.

Surprisingly enough, no Covenant had spotted them as they entered the planet's atmosphere. Justin hoped that the ground force was just as unprepared.

Vanessa signaled him to move up to the bridge. Glass smooth water stretched all the way to concrete docks where a large purple Covenant structure stood. Four prongs sprouted pulsing shields and there was a turquoise beam. The structure was almost as tall as the altitude of the hovering frigates.

"Something's going on." Vanessa said, not bothering to look away from her scope. "Looks like a command center."

Justin took his zooming scope on his visor and zoomed in at the circular base of the tower. A platform was at the bottom where a phantom's doors opened and a new file of troops jumped off. Banshees circled the top and there was a small vehicle patrol of ghosts and a locust walker. Justin zoomed in the bay, there was a modified revenant tank that was dark red and sported additional propulsion drives and a different mortar barrel. It took his curiosity, because the Covenant never modified anything unless needed.

"See that?" He motioned toward the revenant. "Looks like the Covenant made some sort of command module."

"Noted leader." Vanessa replied, "This can't be right. There's way too much activity." Both froze, hiding in the shadows as the hum of a ghost passed on the road that they had been laying on. The vehicle passed by and the two Spartans stayed still until the hum was distant.

Justin zoomed in to the top, there were more elites, some minor, some major and a pair of ultras flanking a general.

A general?

Justin brought up the file that Freemont sent him on the most dangerous Covenant commanders. Pycuree was number thirty seven. Seeing that no two elites were identical in armor, Justin scanned the armor with elites that had been identified as Pycuree's fleet.

It matched.

"Who is that?" Vanessa indicated to the general.

"That's I'cal Nosolee, Pycuree's counterpart on the ground."

I'cal Nosolee in the records was a ruthless general, always following orders and his own beliefs. Even though he stayed through the code of the Covenant, he was much free willed than his fellow commanders. When it came to humans, Nosolee showed no mercy, ordering mass genocide. Justin noted that he took part in the fall of New Harmony.

"We need to get a better look." Justin concluded. "That general is our ticket to Pycuree himself."

"Don't think so, I see no flaws in their security." Vanessa replied, sweeping the outskirts with the sniper. "I think that command would appreciate one less Covenant structure."

"Agreed. See if you can find even a second of a fault in the patrols." Justin descended to the bottom of the hill, staying in the shadows.

"The north side of the tower is being watched by a jackal sniper. If you're quick, you might make it when it looks back at its partner."

Justin saw the small tower floating in the lift. The jackal's ugly face was easily defined as it swept the area with its focus rifle. The solid beam could drain his shields and burn through flesh within seconds.

"Stay where you are." Vanessa ordered sharply. Justin complied, freezing in place. A wraith had stopped in front of what seemed like a checkpoint outside the tower. The jackal squawked at the driver over the shriek of the tank's engine. Justin saw his opportunity, slipping on the other side of the vehicle and reaching the spire. He had made it, even under maximum Covenant patrols.

"Come on Vanessa." Justin called to her. "I got your back."

"No." She protested.

"We'd be better together. I can't take on the tower alone."

Vanessa sighed, orders were orders. "Alright. I'm coming."

Justin saw the wraith pull in the tower and the sniper return to staring at the open ground. Vanessa was under a rocky outcropping and the sniper's rifle was moving in her direction. Justin had to act quick.

He sprinted out in the open, praying that no alien could see him. Stepping into the lift without a sound, he let it carry him to the top. Vanessa saw her opportunity and sprinted in the open towards the gate. The jackal saw her and was about to squawk when it felt its hair on the top of its head get grabbed. Justin pulled it back and saw its beady eyes filled with a mix of surprise and terror. Without waiting for it to writhe free, he drove his knife into its neck. The legs stopped flailing and the Spartan pulled the knife from the body, now covered in purple blood.

Vanessa met him at the base of the tower.

"We need to be gone before they find that rotting body." Justin said as they walked into the base of the tower. Purple and blue walls lined the inside as the hallways were eerily quiet. It must have been that patrols were off duty, or this was a trap. Either way, they got lucky in getting to the second floor, slipping past a single grunt guarding the pass.

They almost made it to the lift room when they had their first close call.

Justin and Vanessa had come across a group of sleeping grunts. Very rarely had either seen such a sight, from what intel the UNSC gathered about grunts is they slept when their elite commander was away. Hopefully that applied here. The grunts wore various armor, indicating their rank, there were a pair of white armored and a few crimson armored. The more common orange armored were scattered around them, all away from the walkway.

Justin and Vanessa silently crept past them and with him on point, was about to enter the lift when Vanessa froze. One of the red armored grunts shifted in its sleep laying its arm on her right shoulder.

"Justin!" Vanessa hissed quietly, getting his attention immediately. He spun around quickly approaching her still form. Hefting the small alien, he set it back on the ledge it had been sleeping on. Amazingly, the grunt didn't even shift. He hated that he could only help the enemy in this time, but any sudden sound would jerk the grunts into action. Vanessa and Justin easily carried enough force to neutralize the entire group, but the sounds would alert larger threats like elites.

They held their breath as they passed the lift into the other room.

Back at the room, the grunt that Justin had moved, shuddered once. A few moments later, its eyes snapped open.

November One and Four had scouted the top floor of the tower's base, which was one level from the very top of the tower. They stopped and hid as three jackals passed by, using their glowing blue shields to light their way. Fortunately for the infiltrators, the jackals were obviously in a hurry and vanished into the door they had come from.

Justin took point, slowly creeping to the elevator. Hopefully this elite general could provide them with some answers.

The unggoy stopped in his tracks and saw the two armored humans proceed down to the elevator where the leader resided. He had better warn him before it was too late. It took a shortcut where it passed through the lifts up to the very top of the tower. Hurrying past the sangheili guards who were about to stop the rushing creature, but held off as it passed through to the general's quarters.

I'cal Nosolee was a middle aged sangheili, one of the older of his kind to attain the rank of general. His cold and heartless stare seemed to slice through the unggoy that stood before it. He enjoyed fear, especially in the lesser species. If only the jiralhanae were so submissive.

"Is there something important I need to be informed of?" He asked.

"Your Excellency, I was working and," It paused, already caught in its lie. Unggoy were punished severely if caught sleeping. Nosolee looked at his sangheili ultra bodyguards. "Leave us."

The six ultras looked at each other, confused on how Nosolee would spend time with a lowly unggoy, although orders were orders. They bowed and exited his chamber, closing the door behind them.

Nosolee seized the unggoy's throat bringing it to his face. "Tell me why you were sleeping!"

It struggled, blue limbs thrashing, but unable to escape his steel grip. "That's not point! We have intruders!"

Nosolee's heart stopped.

"Intruders?"

"Humans!"

Nosolee understood why the unggoy was so urgent. They could have already assaulted the spire!

"I need proof." He replied, finally dropping the struggling grunt and called for his bodyguards.

"Sir!" There was a knock on his door and a sangheili minor stepped in, letting the already terrified unggoy out. "One of the kig-yar snipers was killed and footprints in the dirt lead up to one of the entrances. Human footprints."

"They're here. Lock down the perimeter." Nosolee whispered, he looked at the minor. "Get me on the intercom, translation to the human's language."

Justin and Vanessa were about to enter the elevator when the intercom resonated a horrible and sinister voice that chilled Vanessa's heart to its very core.

"I am covenant general Nosolee. I know that you are listening demons, if you are; you have made a bold move and a disastrous mistake. I see that you have bypassed my defenses with your type of soldiers. My warning to you is that I have slaughtered your kind before along with many more of your poison. Much gratitude comes from me to play your little…game. Remember demons that I'cal Nosolee will be the last thing you shall ever see."

For a second, Vanessa stood still. Then she stood up from where she was crouching. "That voice, I'll never forget it."

Justin nodded, "Neither will I. He's probably uglier than he looks. Also, looks like our stealth option is compromised. Let's get out before we get overrun."

Vanessa looked through her sniper scope as they dropped to the bottom floor. "It looks like we are about to."

Justin turned to see increasing patrols. Night had fallen and now phantoms were circling the tower with banshee escorts. Also plasma barriers were online; they couldn't scale it without being spotted from the reinforced guard towers. The vehicle bay was all cleared out save the general's revenant. Wraiths and ghosts were also patrolling. There was no opening.

The next line from the tower's intercom really made both Spartans nervous.

"I see you. You're trapped."

**Cliffhanger! :O**

**Here are Wunderwaffle and my estimated, NOT CONFIRMED schedules on chapter releases and names!**

**Rescue: February 28**

**Bestowed: March 4**

**Venator: March 6**

**Defiant: TBD**


	5. Rescue

**Hey everyone! Wunderwaffle's back, I hope My Winter's Howl iz missin treated you well while I was away.**

**Just a head's up, I will be going on vacation in March and will not be able to publish anything while away. Don't be surprised if I don't update for a while.**

**From what Winter's Howl told me, the reviews were by the same people. It's not that I hate my viewers, Fallout girl 3 (), you are a freaking awesome reviewer, keep it up. I would like to see different users come and see my story alongside my typical viewers. Enough talk, chapter 5!**

Nosolee watched as his phantom descended to the ground, emptying a full squad of elite rangers. The air was filled with the burning smell of plasma shots and needle rounds.

His concussion rifle whirred as he slapped a new magazine inside. His ultra bodyguards were already at the back shouting orders to the rest of the armies and firing their plasma repeaters.

"This is not good." Justin stated flatly as he saw the horde of grunts backed by blue armored elites. Even with his bandolier, there simply wasn't enough ammo.

As the legion of Covenant advanced, they didn't fire a shot. Odd seeing that all the bloodthirsty aliens would show restraint. Vanessa didn't care and didn't need permission to fire. Already in three seconds, she pumped her sniper magazine empty. Costing the enemy dearly, five grunts and one elite were already knocked out.

Barrages of plasma and needles struck the Spartans. Vanessa had full shields and she moved to cover Justin and his drained power. They could keep fighting, but would be overwhelmed in the end.

A high pitched hum sounded and half dozen elite rangers vaulted to their position. Immediately, Justin brought down his rifle on one of the elite's rounded visor. The faceplate shattered under the force and the wearer snarled before he jammed his battle rifle in the face, pulling the trigger. He moved away trying to call for help.

"Mayday! This is November One! We are under extremely heavy fire and request immediate assistance!"

"Did it work?" Vanessa asked, halfway through reloading her sniper. "We got wraiths closing in!"

White hot mortars soared through the air and impacted near Vanessa, depleting her shields as well. Both of them were now trapped against the energy barriers with no way out.

"Fight to the end!" Justin shouted at her, still firing his battle rifle.

Nosolee gripped his concussion rifle tighter, victory would come shortly, but he wanted to finish the two demons himself, add to his kill count. He chuckled to himself and began to walk to the front of the battle.

His rangers and most advanced forces lay at his feet, bleeding, some missing limbs. The roar of a human vehicle snapped him out of his daze. The vehicle fired a gausslike projectile at one of his ultras, killing it instantly. Swarming the skies were twin rotor helicopters opening fire with machine guns and launched grenades.

Nosolee refused to acknowledge his defeat, he wanted to stay and fight, but Pycuree would want him alive. He'd plan his revenge for the demons later.

Nosolee slipped into his modified revenant and sped away from the battle, nobody, human or Covenant tried to stop him.

**Mortis System**

_**Wise Achievement**_

**March 5, 2550**

Pycuree meditated in his chambers pondering the prophet's task. These two colonies seemed like any other human held worlds. He had gotten nothing out of it except a few of his lance's casualties. He stood up, letting his ominous eyes scan the room after sensing a presence. Nothing.

The door was buzzed and Pycuree slowly opened it to a minor.

"General Nosolee is back."

"He arrived? Wasn't he overseeing the operations?"

It shrugged, "His phantom pulled into hangar bay six this morning."

Pycuree clicked his mandibles; Nosolee was either deserting or telling something important. He hoped it was the latter. Dismissing the minor, he strode to hangar six.

Nosolee was waiting by his phantom, he saluted smartly when the supreme commander approached. He loved his daormir cloak that hung behind him, giving more of a powerful aristocratic look.

"You look tired." Nosolee noted. He was responded by nothing.

"Tell me what happened general." Pycuree snapped, not even regarding Nosolee's comment.

"We had a couple of infiltrators. Somehow, even on maximum security, they killed one of the kig-yar marksmen and slipped into the spire. Who knows what damage they could have done? It was only after an unggoy told me of intruders in the tower did I take action. Sending all divisions there only prompted human reinforcements to arrive. I left the spire just in time."

Pycuree's cloak flicked in the air as he spoke to his second in command, his voice was laden with rage, but he kept his cool intact. "I hope you erased the intel in the spire."

Nosolee nodded.

"As for the demon?"

"Which?" Pycuree replied, "Capture one of them and bring them to me!"

**New Overland**

**March 5, 2550**

Justin slumped inside the Falcon as it lifted off towards the night sky. He could barely make out the lights of the orbiting _De Gama_. His radio crackled with static, a melee on the receiver didn't do him much good. As if it was urgent, Ford came on the frequency.

"Spartan, I'm coming through the atmosphere. You're going to need reinforcements if you're planning to tackle the city."

Dawn, sitting next to him, bumped his shoulder and pointed outside. He stared too to see three of the new Covenant frigates coming to life. The plasma lines were beginning to glow.

"Captain! Hold off your attack! There's Covenant frigates over the city and hidden from your view!"

"Roger, backing off. Those frigates aren't going to blow up without a fight! Get the admiral first!"

"Understood Captain. Justin out." November One disconnected the line.

"What's our next move?" Andrew asked, across the cabin.

"Rescuing the admiral and getting off this damn rock."

**March 6, 2550**

"The signal is still transmitting." Dawn reported from the data pad in her hands, her magnum in the other. "Fourteen klicks south and seven west."

November was moving in two warthogs into the recently abandoned city of New Overland. Malls were deserted, trash and paper flew in the wind. It was a ghost town. The admiral's headquarters was nearby and there was no sign of a dead body, human or Covenant. The only sign of alien presence were the ships over the peaks of the half destroyed skyscrapers which had once been the pinnacle and pride of the colony's business centered industry.

Justin steered the gauss warthog into the intersection and followed Dawn's coordinates. They reached one of the tallest towers with the familiar ONI pyramid with the eye in the middle. Ryan groaned behind the turret upon seeing the symbol.

"More ONI shit? This better be worth it."

Justin stopped the warthog and Vanessa parked next to him all members getting out.

"Elevator's out." Andrew noted.

"No shit. Take point."

Andrew took out a small shaped charge, put it on the doors and pressed the button. There was a hissing sound as the device expanded two four inch long beams and twisted in a circle leaving a perfect hole. The Spartan reached in, with Ryan's help forced the destroyed doors open.

"Let's split up." Justin said after they entered the building. "Elena, take Andrew and Dawn to go find the admiral. Vanessa, Ryan and I will purge the database since Van Kylem failed to."

"Got it." Elena replied, moving to an adjacent hallway, "Let's go!"

Justin heard the sound first and slowly balling his hand into a fist. Vanessa and Ryan froze, moving into the corners with pistols ready. November One peered out the window.

They were about thirty stories up and the sound came from a banshee patrol. That was bad news, the Covenant was returning to occupying the planet.

"Almost there." Vanessa whispered, her ODST helmet glimmering in the afternoon sun. "Just another two stories up to the main data storage room and we can purge the files."

"Good. I think the banshee missed us." Justin replied, still on the lookout for the purple aircraft. "Let's move."

They had barely taken a step when they heard a different sound. It wasn't Covenant, it was human.

Justin traced the sound to a small laboratory and signaled Ryan and Vanessa. Ryan entered first, winking the clear signal.

Vanessa signaled them that there wasn't a threat. Justin and Ryan arrived to see Vanessa kneeling next to a woman that looked to be twenty four. She had blond hair and threadbare clothes that was once a very expensive garment that was stained with tears. Her eyes were wide and swam with fear as the Spartans approached. Justin spoke to her in the calmest voice he could muster.

"Are you alright?"

She didn't respond and Vanessa kept her handgun trained on her head. Justin put his hand over the pistol and slowly forced it down. "Ryan search her."

Ryan approached only to have her struggle when he grabbed her. She elbowed him in the groin, more hurting herself than him. The woman said nothing, only grunted and screamed when Ryan tried to get her to hold still, "Damn, she's squirmy."

Finally he gave up, removing his helmet, "I'm not Covenant. See?" Her fist found his jaw and he stumbled back, tasting the sweet blood from the new wound inside his mouth.

"Fine." Justin growled, "Have it your way, but can you speak?"

"This place is a deathtrap!" She screamed the first words and sprinted for the exit, but Vanessa blocked it, moving in one blur of motion.

"We're not going to hurt you." She said in her metallic speaker. "We just want to get you alive. Calm down, you're going to be alright."

Amazingly, the woman's breathing returned to normal and she placed her hands on her face to wipe more tears away.

"What has happened? Where's everyone else?"

"We're trying to find out too." Justin replied, "Are you part of Van Kylem's party? He had marines and civilians in his group that were inside this building."

"Yes." She replied. "They disappeared as soon as I came back, even the Covenant weren't there."

"So you're all that wasn't taken or whatever happened to them?"

She nodded in response. Ryan moved over next to Justin. "You single?"

"Spartan!" Justin snapped. Ryan saw his CO's stare and backed away. "Standing down chief."

"Come with us." Justin beckoned, "It would be like sitting ducks to stay here. The banshees will return any second." Before she could protest, Ryan moved over and scooped her up in his arms. This time, Justin made no effort to stop him. Ryan slipped on his helmet and watched as the attractive woman slowly fell asleep. Justin turned and walked out of the door, continuing their purging of the databases. Vanessa noticed a UNSC ID on the floor and picked it up, it was the woman's.

"Victoria Reid." She mused out loud before answering a private channel from Ryan.

"I gotta admit. This girl is really hot!" Vanessa grinned underneath her helmet and shook her head in response.

**Chapter 6 should be out by March 3. Peace.**

**Wunderwaffle**


	6. Bestowed

**My most sincere apologies for posting this chapter late. I had two tests yesterday and had to pack a lot today for my vacation. This delay is likely to setback the chapter schedule and I will update it, probably once more before I leave.**

**New Overland**

**March 6, 2550**

"I still can't believe it worked." Andrew grumbled as his feet finally met the metal floor of the Covenant frigate. Justin's distraction of his warthog driving and Elena's superb accuracy with the gauss turret punched a neat little hole into the defenses. The Covenant guards were so confused and zealous to the mere vehicle, that they failed to notice the remainder of November slip into the ship's gravity lift. The sad part, they were sprinting in plain sight.

"That's not fair!" Ryan shouted at Dawn. "You got a head start!"

"Well then run faster." She replied, laughing.

"Get serious." Vanessa said to them both, "We still have a job to do here."

They took in their surroundings, the usual, but unfamiliar purple rooms of the Covenant architecture both made them seem more alien than the troops it carried. When trained about Covenant intelligence, the door color indicated if it was locked or not. Red meant locked and lilac indicated that it was open.

The door flashed and opened to reveal a startled grunt, which was easily killed with Andrew's shotgun. He shouldered the smoking weapon, waiting for the grunt to get up. "Guess he didn't want seconds."

"If you guys are done fucking around." Elena snapped over the COM, "Go and disable the turrets. We're getting tired of driving around dodging plasma bolts all day."

"Right," Ryan said, going through the hallways. Strangely, they were quite empty and devoid of guards, they began to wonder why they had gotten this far without a hitch.

"Looks like the bridge." Vanessa inquired as they approached a larger purple shaded door. It slid open to reveal a full room of surprised Covenant.

They turned, faces turning from shock to weakness.

The Spartans opened fire.

Not one Covenant was left standing. Vanessa went to the ops station and pressed the gravity lift, pulling Justin and Elena up. Once they got to the bridge it was as if learning calculus for the first time. Nobody knew what did what. Fortunately, a smiling Justin strode to the command throne.

"You guys remember Dracula? He can translate for us." Justin told them, as he yanked a reddish chip from his head. Finding a similar port, he inserted the chip inside.

An avatar of a man wearing fancy black clothes came on the pedestal beside the command throne. A large collar surrounded his neck as well as two small pointed fangs protruding from the sides of his mouth. He spoke with a deep Transylvanian accent.

"Greetings Spartan, how may I be of service?" The virtual vampire boomed.

"I need you to translate the controls and consoles." Justin explained to his well known AI partner, "We just took control of this Covenant frigate and are trying to eliminate the rest for the"

"I'm aware of your situation chief." Dracula replied, rather impatient. "I'm already working to translate the controls to your HUD now." True to his word, Dracula had transformed the alien runes into readable characters based off the latest UNSC intel. The AI cocked his head, "Hmm. They call the ship _Munificent._ A fitting name since it means liberal."

"We'll be liberal on death today. Alright then." Justin straddled the command throne and looked at the bridge windows with Dracula at his side. "Let's give the Covenant a taste of their own bitter medicine."

"Systems green." Andrew reported from his station.

"Activity on screen." Ryan pressed a button and a screen showed the other Covenant frigates turning towards them, turrets beginning to charge with blazing red fire.

"Take us behind the building." Justin told Dawn, who was manning navigation. He turned to Elena. "Bring the port side pulse lasers to charge and arm plasma torpedoes."

"You do know," Dracula interjected, "That the shields must be lowered to fire the plasma."

"Lower the shields then, bring them back online once we've fired."

_Munificent _rumbled behind the skyscrapers. The other Covenant frigates' turrets opened fire.

"Fire lasers at the closest frigate." Justin ordered.

"Firing!" Elena replied. The port side pulse laser turrets, nine total began to spit plasma at the unshielded ship. Dracula pulled the shields up after a few seconds.

The lasers crossed each other impacting the unprotected hull. Plasma splashed and boiled armor, yet the enemy vessel continued to stay on its course, already building up charges to its torpedoes.

"Collision alert!" Ryan shouted from his seat, "Two torpedoes! Impacting in 20 seconds!"

"Those torpedoes will easily destroy our light armor." Dracula analyzed to Justin, he nodded in response.

"Do we have any countermeasures?"

He nodded, "We have the shields. The plasma cannons and torpedoes can destroy them as well."

"Fifteen seconds!"

"Divert 40 percent of the engine power to the shields! Vanessa! Keep an eye on the others! Elena, once the shields are depleted, fire the first torpedo and wait five seconds to fire the second."

"Five seconds!" Ryan reported.

"Brace for impact!"

The torpedoes impacted _Munificent_, just like he predicted, dropped the vessel's shields. The bridge shook and everyone grabbed something to hold onto. Elena saw Justin's acknowledgement light and locked the torpedoes onto the pursuing frigate. "Torpedoes away!"

A blue comet accelerated towards the frigate. Elena looked confused, "What about the second torpedo?"

"Fire it at the frigate!" When she didn't respond, he shouted, "I know what I'm doing! Just fire the torpedo!"

A second plasma bolt of death homed in, following the first.

The Covenant frigate turned to intercept, but it was too late. The first torpedo impacted and the shields bubbled, finally flickering out. The frigate turned to avoid the second torpedo, but it smashed into the center of the ship. Explosions rocked it as it shuddered and finally severed the ship at the thinner midsection.

"Hell yeah!" Andrew shouted.

"We're not done yet!" Dracula reminded him, bringing up a screen. Two more Covenant frigates were already after the _Munificent_.

"Reloading torpedoes! Pulse lasers on starboard are charged and ready to fire!"

"Bring us about one-eight-zero! Hit the engines!" Justin ordered, slamming his fist on the arm of the chair.

Lasers fired, crossing the skyscrapers and stitched the other frigate's shields. They shimmered, but held.

"Now it's their move." Dracula said sarcastically. As if he was right, the other frigate whose shields were nearly down, boosted itself, moving behind a large skyscraper for cover.

"Like that's going to work." Dracula sneered before firing a torpedo.

The plasma ball of death swept aside the tower and slammed into the engines. Smaller explosions tore through the hallways of the alien vessel. Smiles formed on the team's faces as the ship let out a low roar and crashed onto the ground, likely killing thousands of Covenant troops.

"One down! One to go!" Ryan shouted.

"Not what I see." Dracula countered, "I'm detecting additional frigates headed our way. Get ready."

A barrage of plasma cannon shots began chipping away at _Munificent's _shields. Sections of the stern armor boiled and fell off with sparks and fire rolling through the back of the hull.

"We got company!" Elena shouted, leaving her post. Justin nearly snatched his battle rifle up in time to hear the door open and the battle cries of two dozen Covenant troops.

Elena fired her marksman rifle. The front elite's shields spat out and it snarled at her, keeping its ground. Jackals with bright blue shields fired, hoping to cover their leader as he recovered. Justin didn't let that happen, by pulling a grenade and tossing it behind. The jackals and wounded elite were pulverized from one thunderous blast.

Suddenly the frigate shuddered; the enemy ship had three more allies and were already opening up with a volley of plasma. Screens flashed angry red and sirens blared.

"The shields are gone!" Andrew shouted over the chaos, "Armor is boiling off!"

Sure enough, the once lethal Covenant frigate looked as if it had been thrown into the navy's scrapyard.

Justin and Elena couldn't tell them what to do, so the remainder of the team pressed buttons in the hopes of regaining control of the situation.

November One and Two faced the door and six deadly looking elites with energy swords. Justin heard Elena gasp and his stomach knotted at the bottom. The sizzling of the swords was unbearable, as the first three barrel rolled straight to him. Justin felt his battle rifle lose his grip as the giant elite brought its sword closer. In the corner of his eye, he saw three ganging up on Elena. She tried to punch one, but it grabbed her hand and twisted it. Elena's cry of pain snapped every other member to her attention. Immediately, Andrew charged, tackling one of the elites into the wall. The alien was crushed under his onslaught.

Justin tried his best to push the ever closer sword from his throat, but it was too strong and his muscles might as well have been made of lead. These elites weren't trying to kill them, they were being tortured.

Elena desperately needed help, the elite had her pinned to the floor and slowly inching the sword closer. The rest of November was occupied with the others and the ships which were still raining fire overhead.

Justin twisted his elbow around and slammed it into the elite's jaw. It jerked, not expecting his move and he never let it recover, by punching out the shields and taking his magnum out. He pulled the trigger and the helmet disappeared under a spray of blood. He sprinted to where the elite had Elena, the sword a mere inch from her throat.

Justin shouted and the elite turned, only to be shoulder barged onto the controls. Anger surged through his veins as he grabbed one of the elite's arms and bent it the opposite way. It howled in pain as the bone let out a wet snap.

"Don't ever think you can hurt her! You'll have to go through me first."

The elite said something of its tongue before Justin's knife sank into its eye. The sword wrested free of his grasp. November's leader threw the dead body onto the ground and rushed to Elena's side.

"Elena? Elena are you alright?"

Elena didn't respond.

"Justin!" Dracula shouted, "We have lost our primary shield generators and the armor is being torn away!"

"I'll be right there." He replied, no panic in his voice, only sadness as he looked at his wounded teammate and stood up. Vanessa rushed to her side, unpacking a trauma kit.

"What now?" Dracula asked, awaiting orders from the pedestal.

"Now I kill every fucking bastard that tried to kill her."

**Don't know when chapter 7 will be out, but it will be before March 8. Don't you feel bad for Justin? He and Elena had a close bond with each other T_T**


	7. Unbroken Bond

**Long Ass Author's note: I'm finally back from my vacation in Maui and Honolulu! Mahalo for waiting so long during my escape to paradise. I had no computer to update because if I brought my laptop, it would have to be inspected by security.**

**So yeah, I went scuba diving, hung out with my friends and hid in our hotel room from a tsunami. Nothing much….**

**Oh yeah, Fallout girl, since Dawn is Six's sister right? Is Six a boy or girl? He/she will make an appearance.**

**Without further ado, the next segment of November's story of survival, danger and friendship. To regain my footing on writing, this is going to be short.**

**This is a flashback part; don't get confused with the actual story and the moments of the past.**

"Enemy torpedoes closing!"

"The starboard shields are gone!"

"Justin! We need to do something!"

All those words fell on hollow ears as Justin clutched Elena's limp body. He was oblivious to everything, the ship shuddering, Dracula shouting at him and the other Spartans tapping the buttons furiously.

"Forget the leader!" Vanessa shouted over the chaos, "We need to take out those bastards."

Justin remembered his first mission with his loved second in command; it told how much she meant to him.

**7 years ago**

**Unknown Covenant fleet**

"This is suicide." Elena muttered for the tenth time in the last fifteen minutes. She and Justin were trapped inside a derelict spirit dropship drifting under the massive Covenant Assault Carrier with the cruisers and destroyers following it like lap dogs.

Justin checked the nukes, the safeties were still on and the plan went as scheduled.

Supposedly, the Covenant would recover the downed spirit and bring it aboard the flagship. The Spartans would set up jammers, fooling the navigation systems into thinking that slipstream space was being interfered with. The nukes would jettison and drift towards the other cruisers. An easy vaporization for the fleet, although it expended the Spartans' lives, without a chance to return.

Their commander even told them that they wouldn't return, so much for survival.

"I think we are latched." Elena whispered. Sure enough, the dropship was edging closer to the carrier.

"Ready to set up false signals." Justin said, removing the fist sized devices and powering them on. He kept his fingers from activating. If the Covenant didn't dock and there was interference, the infiltration would be over.

More sounds of scraping metal and pings indicated that the scavengers were already trying to open the dropship. Justin signaled Spartan A-280 to pop a smokescreen and Spartan A-191 to set up trip wires. Acknowledgement lights winked in his HUD and they got to work.

"Wires in place." A-191 reported, holding up the grenades strapped to the wire. Elena confirmed that the traps were going to set off curious Covenant once they entered the spirit.

"Smoke deployed." A-280 chimed in, "Fifteen seconds."

"Let's make this happen." Elena told them, spirits already up.

The door opened and the smoke rushed to escape through the hole. The Spartans heard chattering grunts and two angry voices of elites trying to discipline the lowly infantry. Silhouettes appeared in the purple light. The Covenant were in the open while the four Spartans in the first squad were nearly invisible. For once, Justin thanked the dark themed alien architecture.

A-280's indicator winked green, good to open fire.

Justin raised his MA37 with a large cylindrical silencer on the barrel and fired at the closest alien. The other three followed suit. Instantly, the first elite's shields were shredded and the grunts lay at their feet before they knew what was happening. The lone survivor was reaching for his plasma rifle when Justin brought his rifle on the head. There was a popping sound of bone snapping and the elite dropped to the floor.

"They're going to find the bodies." A-280 told them in her metallic speakers. "We better go and arm the nukes."

"Got the safeties here." A-191 handed Justin small metal strips with coding from his LRP chest. The leader of first squad removed the watermelon sized bombs and typed a button.

**Safety Code Required**

Justin pressed **ENTER**

**Please Enter Safety Code**

Elena stood guard while A-191 set off the trip wires, decimating a curious jackal squad. Squawks pierced the air as the explosives caught the shielded warriors with their backs turned. A-280 took another canister and set off another smokescreen.

**KABOOM**

**Safety Code Verified**

**HAVOK Armed**

**Awaiting Detonation Signal**

Justin armed the four other HAVOKs before he turned to his three subordinates. "More are on the way." Elena told him, from watching her motion tracker.

"Let's slip out. Use the smoke to mask our exit." The three nodded and he slipped out from the dropship. There were more spirits docked and a shielded door that showed the blackness of space, speckled with stars and distant worlds. Seeing it so rare prompted him to stare in awe and wonder, but the mission had to be completed.

"No signals on thermal." A-191 reported. He took another step. His final one.

"Gah!," Before anyone could react, a massive cloaked elite grabbed A-191 by his hand pulling him towards it. A-191 could only stumble before the elite swiftly impaled the Spartan with its sizzling energy sword. Immediately Elena and A-280 opened fire. The elite, gloating over its fallen opponent was still basking in victory before it was cut down by a hail of bullets.

"There's more." Justin warned his teammates. They couldn't mourn A-191 now, easily falling prey to more Covenant stalking them.

"Then we better move." Elena grabbed the nukes and hefted them over her shoulders.

"Look out!" A-280 shouted, desperation laden in her voice, already thinking that her cry was in vain.

Elena saw the elite fade out right in front of Justin, still beaming at its invisibility. Luckily, Justin tackled it onto the floor first and drew his knife to stab it in its throat. It gurgled before laying still.

"Crafty bastard." Justin got off and put back his knife.

"How will we escape?" Elena asked, Justin put his hand on her to calm down. Still, through the armor, he could tell she was worried.

"We'll take one of those gunships. Now get those nukes in position."

"In position." A-280 said after she set it down in the located spot.

"Alright. Let's move." Justin climbed into the gunship and studied the controls for a second before powering it on and moving out of the fleet.

"I've never met anyone like you." Elena said to him. He smiled sweetly in return, "I hope we get assigned together."

A-280, Justin and Elena crowded around the detonator.

"Three!"

"Two!"

The Covenant gunship moved out of the EMP range.

"One!" Three thumbs pressed the detonator and fireballs appeared in the fleet.

The carrier was ripped apart instantly and the cruisers were swallowed seconds later. Justin felt Elena's hand slip into his. He turned to face her.

"Sorry." She apologized, quickly snatching her hand away as if it was on fire. Behind her visor, her face flushed.

Loud cheers erupted as the Covenant fleet was completely vaporized. The impossible was done. Four humans against fourteen Covenant heavy warships, one Spartan lost all fourteen warships destroyed.

Justin brought his senses back to the present. The cheering was from his team and Dracula. On the viewscreen were the other Covenant frigates smoking and falling to the ground.

Elena stirred, eyes fluttering open. Justin felt his heart race.

**I just got back so give me a break. It's hard getting back up to speed juggling schoolwork, storytelling and other things. Expect the next chapter to be March 25-26.**

**Mahalo for reading and Aloha until next time!**


	8. Ghost Town

**I can explain this! No! Wait! *Gets gunned down by AK-47s***

**3 hours later**

***twitches and hears more AK-47s* Crap.**

**Anyway, sorry for the extreme long delay. Now I will post chapters farther apart, but they will likely have important events or last longer. I've also been grounded and managed to type little scraps when my parents aren't home. Rest assured, faithful readers and flamers, I have not abandoned the story. Without further ado.**

Everyone felt the impact and warning signs flashed across most consoles. Celebrations were short lived as _Munificent _and its engines separated. The scarab was hitting them from behind. Since the engines were beyond repair, the best idea was to abandon ship. The vessel had done its job and there were no doubt the Covenant would send more powerful warships to find the rogue vessel.

"Sad to see her go?" Dracula asked, curious about the Spartan's silence. Nobody answered and the AI immediately shut up.

"Andrew. Direct the frigate into that scarab!"

"Roger. Sending them a message!"

Andrew typed on the screen, "Race you there!"

The burning ship accelerated towards the scarab. It turned and attempted to run, but it was too late.

The hulk impacted the walker dead center, crushing it instantly. Without time to explode, the scarab's crew also had no time to escape. Grunts tried to run, but it was a futile attempt.

The ship skidded across the ground, easily knocking down buildings and flattening everything in its path. Finally it slowed and halted in the city centre. The formidable vessel had charred paint and destroyed armor everywhere. It resembled something that was in a Covenant junkyard. Eerily quiet, it was abducted by a demo explosion near the bridge.

November stumbled out, exhausted and beaten. Justin addressed his team and spoke on the COM.

"Captain Ford, I think we're going to need reinforcements."

"Affirmative November One, you sound out of breath."

"Wait until you hear the whole story." Justin grumbled as he watched several Pelicans descend from the imposing Marathon-class cruiser.

**Unknown Covenant Cruiser over the city of Bachant**

"Nosolee, you're acting odd. Is something wrong?" The Ultra asked for the fifth time.

Nosolee was close to lashing out with frustration and aggravation at his bodyguard. Yet, Pycuree had often told him to keep his temper in check and use his anger to slaughter the humans. The Ultra better know that he was lucky.

"The thing is," He started, but paused. Something nagged at him, but it was indescribable. "During the demon's infiltration of the spire, I find it odd why I did not kill them myself."

The Ultra shifted, picking his words carefully, "We failed to kill them. Remember, you sped off in your Revenant?"

"Stick to the plan." Nosolee told him before walking into the hallways of the bridge.

**New Overland**

"The admiral's signs are not working." Justin briefed his team, "Either the neural implants are malfunctioning or he's dead and my guess would be the latter. Since the city is so large, I'm spreading the teams out with divisions of ODSTs."

"The search would take a few hours." Elena reminded him.

"Do you have a better idea?" She shook her head in response.

"We will begin. My team will take the area with the highest Covenant activity."

The ODSTs began gathering their gear and loading up the warthogs.

**Later**

"Eyes open, watch your sectors."

The three warthogs crept through the center of New Overland. Like always, the city was quiet. Not even birds flew overhead. The Covenant had erased all civilian life from the city. The planet likely looked just as bad.

"Schlatter, circle around and recon the west. Stern and I will stay here and set up a perimeter."

Schlatter's warthog moved west and vanished over the hill. Justin reversed back into the square with Stern and his crew.

"Chief, I've got movement. South building, about quarter mile from your position." Schlatter reported over the COM with a uneasy voice.

"Come back, I'll flush out the hostile on foot."

Elena looked down from her turret, leaning on it sideways. "You sure it's a good idea?"

Justin nodded, accepting a shotgun from his ODST in the passenger seat, "Without more Spartans. Someone has to watch our flank. If I'm not back in ten, then come after me."

Without a word, he turned and sprinted towards the southern area.

Justin remembered reading texts about a nation called the United States of America, which was founded in 1776. During the 1800s, it had expanded across a vast land ending up on a western area where it still stood today. Lining the train tracks that were eventually built to cross the plains and deserts were small towns. Soon enough, they were abandoned leaving the name, Ghost Town.

New Overland resembled that, only in the 26th century.

Justin shivered as he stepped through the alley. His tracker was cold and he was puzzled at the disappearance. Schlatter was likely spooked. Like they all were anyway.

All of a sudden, something impacted him from behind. Justin hit his amber light as he toppled over drawing his sidearm in the process.

Victoria Reid stood in front of him, hands up with eyes that portrayed nothing that she expected. Justin lowered his pistol, she nearly gave him a heart attack.

"Victoria." Justin said solely, standing his full height, two heads taller.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." She replied, Justin saw that his intimidation worked quite well. If only Innies were that way too, what more could he accomplish?

"Might I ask why you're here and what happened after you left Ryan's sight?" The Spartan asked, a bit of annoyance creeping in his voice.

"Well I went to find my brother." She replied, kicking a piece of paper near the alley.

"Find him?"

"Yes, I found Henry. He's back here."

A sound of a sprinting Spartan resonated in the alley and Elena came around the corner with her magnum ready to shoot. Upon seeing the two in conversation and turning to face her, she lowered her handgun, slipping it into her holster.

"Stand down Elena. Call everyone back. If she's right, then the Covenant are going to mop up here."

"Roger." Elena cocked her head to contact the warthog teams. "Okay. They're on their way."

"You bringing Henry?" Justin asked, already beginning to walk back to the square. Victoria nodded moving back. It took only five seconds to realize that he wasn't there anymore.

"Where is he?"

"Who?" Elena asked, obviously not listening to the first part.

"My brother." She replied, panic steadily creeping into her voice. "He's not here anymore."

"Let me guess." Elena sneered, "He's one of those devious masterminds?"

Justin shot her a glare that was enough to snap her mouth shut.

"She couldn't have gone far." He concurred.

**Meanwhile…**

**Outside Bachant**

Dawn sped the car through the empty highway, dodging deserted cars, warthogs, destroyed scorpion hulls and even an elephant APC. The junk reminded Ryan of the highway of death UN Coalition forces did to Iraq in the 1990s on the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border.

"Remind me to never let you drive again." He muttered.

Before he could refocus his vision was now centered on a wraith approaching the bridge they were about to speed over. There was no way to maneuver around it and it had already noticed the speeding car. Its plasma mortar glowed and prepared to fire.

"Bail!" Dawn shouted.

Both Spartans quickly opened the doors of the vehicle and barrel rolled out. A split second later, the wraith fired its mortar into the car, impacting it dead center. Fiery debris rained everywhere as the car vaporized against the onslaught of the plasma. Ryan and Dawn's bodies were never found.

Nosolee and his Ultra bodyguards watched the wraith's mortar settle back into default position and resume its patrol. Already several Unggoy and Kig-Yar were investigating the wreckage and removing several parts of the car. Nosolee heard a familiar sound and saw his crimson revenant speeding towards him. At first, he could hardly believe his eyes, _his _revenant? What was more standing out was that a human was driving it!

**I'm going to stop there at the cliffhanger. Evil aren't I? *RPG-7 arming sound* Oh shit…**

**Anyway, I'm no longer going to post chapter updates times because I will not abide by them, I have tons of homework. To answer my vacation question, I was in Hawaii about a month ago with my orchestra. Yes I had to be evacuated when the tsunami warning struck. I bought a shirt that says Hawaii 2011 tsunami survivor.**

**Other stuff…Oh yeah. My brothers and I got the new Pokemon versions released in March. So I played and thought that the characters were interesting and the pokemon even more interesting. So I'm going to do a pokemon fanfiction, great huh? Never mind about the great part, but if you approve please say so. If not, then you might as well not express it and it's your problem.**

**Peace.**


	9. Bachant

**Now we will see what Reid's brother is up to. Hehehe.**

Nosolee's expression didn't change on his face. His Ultra bodyguards stood maws agape as his personal Revenant pulled to a stop in front. The human got out and approached Nosolee, quite intimidated by his Ultras growling menacingly. The general had to hold up his hand to prevent them from slaughtering him. He was essential to their plan.

"You wrecked my Revenant?" Nosolee's rage nearly matched his lackey's as he activated his plasma rifle.

"P..P..Please! I can help you! I know where the humans are going!"

"I've had enough of your lies." He growled, pushing the plasma rifle into the man's ribcage.

"Noble General." An officer approached, "The humans of Bachant are beginning to arm themselves."

Nosolee violently dropped Reid on the ground. "Ours, or heretics?"

"Both." The officer folded his arms behind his back. Reid dusted himself and nursed a possible cracked rib.

"Perhaps the word of your massacres got to them." He inquired, earning an icy leer from Nosolee.

"They can experience it firsthand then." He turned to the major, "Send two legions to the outskirts and assemble plasma cannons to seal the city off. This demon team should be headed there. Kill all humans, all of them."

The officer and one of the ultras exchanged looks. Sweat beaded on the officer's palms as he began to protest.

"But, there are innocent humans among them." He replied, a bit of fear seeping into his voice.

Nosolee's eyes narrowed in a split second. He grabbed the officer and quickly activated his energy knife, plunging it into the officer's head and thrashing him around before kicking the corpse off his blade.

Reid stood in utter shock and the three ultras stood motionless. They were trained not to react emotionally to a death of a brother unless vengeance called. Nosolee faced one of his guards.

"Carry the order yourself."

The ultra complied, drawing his repeater and taking off in a nearby parked Banshee. Nosolee faced the most annoying being there. Reid.

"You! Get out of my sight!"

Reid recoiled, passing the Revenant and accidentally bumping it. It shuddered and suddenly fell apart. Well, at least the cannon was outdated and needed to replace. Reid felt himself shrink in fear, but Nosolee simply glared.

"First fix my Revenant." The massive Sangheili spat before walking away.

"What about ordinance chief?" Andrew asked. November, minus Dawn and Ryan were seated around a fire outside New Overland. The sky was clear and stars twinkled, filling the black void with thousands of points. All the members had no armor on, simply relaxing and just gathering the events of the Covenant activity.

"The lack of ordinance does concern me." A-283 replied, "Perhaps we will have to scavenge _Munificent_."

"You talk about stealing from the split chin?" An ODST perked up, near Andrew. "Count me in!"

"Andrew, take a few Warthogs and scavenge all the Covenant stuff we can carry. Don't hesitate to bring back a few Banshees or Wraiths."

"Got it." Andrew stood up, "We shall leave immediately."

Justin's COM crackled, Dawn and Ryan were aboard a Falcon and returning after their little incident.

They saluted as soon as he approached the Falcon.

"At ease. You've seen a lot today. We'll be relaxing for a while before any action starts again."

Both glanced at each other, before beginning to remove their components. Justin led them to the fire, which Elena was tending to.

"Don't play with fire. You could get burnt." Ryan chucked, "I'm done. I can't fight with my injuries."

"I wouldn't talk." She shot back, Justin smiled slightly.

"You okay?" Ryan asked someone.

The team turned, to see Ryan and Victoria. He had his arms wrapped around her shoulders and it seemed like she was clinging to him for safety.

"A few scratches." She stood and strode over to Justin. "My brother didn't disappear. He was brought in to report."

Elena snapped up, "Report? He's working with the Covenant?"

"They took him to Bachant! My birthplace!" Victoria fumed, about to storm off. "I'll make him pay for what he did!" She began to sprint into the night. Ryan stood up. "Wait, I'm coming with you!"

"Spartan!" Justin snapped. Ryan halted dead in his tracks. "I thought you had other things going on."

Ryan's eyes narrowed as he donned his armor. "That was before I knew her brother was involved." He replied, coldly before following and slinging an MA37 on his back.

"I knew we shouldn't have trusted him." Elena whispered.

"Well we need a plan, instead of rushing in without one."

Justin left Elena to devise the plan and went to look for Vanessa. After minutes of searching, he found her, lying prone and watching the skyline of Bachant.

"You meditating?" He asked, laying next to her and scoping in.

"No. Just watching activity." She turned to him, "Is there a reason why you came to disturb me?"

"I just wanted to know if you found something suspicious."

Vanessa shook her head. In her mind, she loved it when her cold personality set her apart from the rest of the group. That's how a marksman…or markswoman was.

"We leave at 900 tomorrow." Justin concluded, "Get some sleep."

Vanessa couldn't deny that.

"Where's Ryan?" Dawn asked, the next morning, as the small camp was packing things onto a half dozen Warthogs and four Scorpion tanks.

"He ran off. Somewhere in Bachant." Justin replied before rounding up all the Spartans and ODSTs present. "Listen up! We're going to assault the city of Bachant. Now I have reports of armed civilians and one of my Spartans already fighting. You encounter resistance, fire to incapacitate. I want tanks Devil-Four and Devil-Two on the main highway, clearing out armor. Warthogs with Missile Launchers will deal with patrolling Banshees and Phantom dropships. Let's move!"

November One climbed into his tank and took the lead. The cavalry set out for Bachant.

**There will definitely be more action in the next chapter! I know this was a little short and I hadn't updated in forever!**


End file.
